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	for <netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org>; Sat, 19 Dec 1998 20:51:52 -0500 (EST)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 20:51:52 -0500 (EST)
From: Matthew Orgass <darkstar@pgh.net>
Reply-To: Matthew Orgass <darkstar@pgh.net>
To: netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org
Subject: CDs...
Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.96.981213180720.23145E-100000@doit.pgh.net>
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  It looks like there is a very good chance (>95%) that I will soon be
starting a business that will give me the capability to produce a fairly
large number of CDs (about 100/day) on demand at a low cost. If it is
acceptable to the project and to the current distributor, I would like to
take responsibility for the official NetBSD distribution starting with
version 1.4 (I should be ready by late March or early April).  

  The price is variable depending on the printing and packaging.  From my
preliminary investigation, the packaging I am leaning towards is one of
the cheapest versions: CD in a high quality plastic sleeve plus a heavy
paper cover.  This would cost about then $2/CD and could be sent by USPS
for under $.75 (assuming an average purchase of just one CD, combined
credit card and shipping charges would be about $1).

  I would like to have two CDs (one domestic, one international) for each
platform each with all binarys and full source (including packages).
Separate packaging could be available for those who need several ports.

  I recommend keeping the project donation fairly low so that more people
are encouraged to try it.

  I would also like to contact as many web software retailers as possible
about selling NetBSD CDs.  They could handle the orders and just send me
addresses to mail to, something which should be very easy to set up with
most modern www shopping carts and almost no maintanance for them.

  I would also like to do some PR.  While I do not have any PR experience
yet, I need to learn in the next few months anyway so I might as well help
out NetBSD in the process.  My programming skills are not good enough to
be of much use in the OS, but I can help let people know what a wonderful 
operating system you all have created (thanks!).  I would like to start by
turning netbsd.com into a "why should *you* use NetBSD" site in addition
to the store. This would contain targeted advertising for as many groups
of people as possible.  Keeping this separate from the main project site
would IMO be a good balance between promotion and maintaining a volunteer
feel to the project.  While I don't have the knowledge to create all of
the content myself, I can certainly ask questions and compile and format
the responses for the web page (and there seem to be plenty of people who
are willing to send email to help the project :) ).

Also:

  * I really like the image used with the 1.3.2 CD.  I would even vote to
make it the "official image".  Luckily, my vote doesn't actually count for
anything, but what does everyone else think?  I do think it would be a
good idea (for marketing purposes, anyway) to have one image associated
with NetBSD, whichever that might be.

  * Similarly, I think there should be one "offical slogan".  I much
prefer "The world's most portable operating system" to "Of course it runs
NetBSD" because it identifies NetBSD as an operating system, states a fact
instead of answering a question which we really don't want people to have 
to ask to begin with, and sounds better when you put the name first
("NetBSD.  The world's most popular operating system." vs. "NetBSD.  Of
course it runs NetBSD".  The alternative would be to not put NetBSD at the
beginning of the second phrase, but that weakens the position of the
name).  From a marketing point of view, "the world's most portable
operating system" is clearly the better choice.

  * IMHO, the most urgent small project is a listing of non-native
programs that someone has confirmed work under NetBSD.  This should be
linked to the first page.  It doesn't have to be complicated, just a table
of NetBSD version and port, product id and version, and comments, with a
web form to fill out to add to the table.  If a Linux user is thinking of
trying NetBSD, the first thing they'll want to do is make sure that their
apps will run under NetBSD.  I can code this in early January if no one
else gets to it before then.

  * NetBSD promotional items:  I don't want to commit to anything quite
yet, but if business goes well I would like to keep items such as tshirts,
polos, bezels, bumper stickers, etc. in stock.  Actually, the printer that
I will probably be using has a tshirt transfer, so if that is an
acceptable quality I could probably start selling them on demand with the
CDs.


Matthew Orgass
darkstar@pgh.net